Interdependence – Alaina Clemence

Since I have been living fully isolated with my family during this pandemic, I don’t think I am as conscious of my choices day-to-day interacting with other people, but I am conscious of how much I rely on delivery services to get our groceries and necessary items nowadays. By using the delivery option of our groceries (which are large enough to carry more than just produce), there is a minimum of one additional person (if they are both the person shopping in our stead and the one who drives the order to our home, otherwise that is two people) in the long line of people who get the items to our home. We also have been begrudgingly using Amazon for some of our harder-to-get essentials as they have access to many brands in one place, as it has a delivery system that works well where we live. But I definitely find myself trying to find more ways to buy locally for when I emerge from quarantine.

As for being a product of interdependence, I would say yes, although because of my privilege I often take that interdependence for granted until it is affected in any way (small or fully yanked out from underneath me). I think a lot about ethical consumption and sustainability because there are so many people who interact with every single product that makes its way into my hands, even if it is a material that goes into a different finished product (such as fabric or metal); no one can survive completely alone and we all rely on the skills and specialities of those around us.

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